Akeem Baiyewu
The
Internet is a great place to start asserting your authority and
creating a presence for your brand. But how do you get a website that
will speak for you, help build your authority and probably make you more
money?
While there are numerous tips on how to
design a website, there are myriads of fallacies that people make when
designing their website. Here are some of them…
Everyone is a web designer
Sometimes, this is the case when a
familiar person is a web designer by trade. It’s funny how something
simple like changing navigation to something more usable can improve a
website’s experience by a mile. Let’s take, for example, that you are
building a house; would you want to live in a house you built yourself
if you could get your hand on a book or two without making sure that all
necessary checks and balances are done?
I don’t think I would want to.
I have FrontPage/DreamWeaver/Wordpress, therefore I’m my own web designer
As in the previous example, these are
just tools; and just like a sledgehammer, it does not mean that you can
carve a work of art. Can you chisel out the fine details by hand, edit
HTML codes, adjust your images to size, reduce or increase an image’s
resolutions without it losing its quality? I still encounter several
designers who use such tools but still cannot make a simple hyperlink by
hand, let alone diagnose bigger HTML and CSS problems.
A great web design is cheap
This is true if you want a cheap site.
The aphorism ‘You get what you pay for’ still rings true, but be sure to
shop around for a good web designer. Great websites might not break
your bank account, but you might just find yourself getting what you
paid for. Online garbage-in might actually mean garbage-out.
Making changes on my website should be easy
Structural changes can take the longest.
Sometimes, little changes might change the whole structure, plain and
purpose of your website and you find yourself re-designing almost every
time. Therefore, you need to plan, outline, and wireframe your site
before filling it in. Then, once it’s filled in, avoid changing the
layout constantly. People don’t want to get to your website and see
changes every day.
It looks so easy, so it must be easy
A web design is not a Microsoft Word
document. Browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc…) are all different
and confused amongst themselves, and our job is to make all of them
work, while being limited within huge constraints. Test on all browsers
before going live.
I can have the same website as I have seen elsewhere
Sure, but would you know the difference
between a N25,000 website and a N250,000 website? Most people wouldn’t.
Sure, you can have anything you want; just be prepared to pay for it. I
have lost track of how many people wanted a site like Nike.com or some
dynamic, drag-and-drop, t-shirt factory website — all for under N25,000!
I want my site a certain way…
Again, No. If you hire a very
experienced web designer, chances are that they know more than you do. I
have seen numerous great websites go down the tubes when the client
wanted to change it. If your web designer says that your eCommerce
website does not need a splash page, and that it will only reduce the
number of people that buy from you, then believe him.
My website will be completed on time and on budget
Web design is like anything else.
Unforeseen delays, challenges, and changes are all possible and probably
quite likely. At times, as you redesign, new challenges come
My web designer can make changes on demand
Especially not true if it’s an
independent freelancer. Typically, keeping a web designer on the phone
to make changes while you dictate to him only works for smaller changes.
When you need to make changes that might affect the layout, structure
or functions on your website, you’d better be prepared to document it.
Every website is created equal
There is a lot of short- and long-term
value that can go into a web design that a consumer should be aware of
as they shop around. A custom, high-quality web design is often needed,
while at other times, it’s not (for the ultra-budget minded).
So, whether you are redesigning or just about to establish your brand’s presence, avoid these fallacies.
No comments:
Post a Comment